


Seven Minutes in Heaven

by flannery_culp



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, One Shot, Seven Minutes In Heaven, Spin the Bottle, alternative plotline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 13:58:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9747593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flannery_culp/pseuds/flannery_culp
Summary: What if Archie wasn't the one Veronica had gone into the closet with at Cheryl's party?





	

Betty took a breath while her hand hovered over the bottle, trying to work out the mechanics of spinning it just right. Archie was directly across from her. How hard could it be? She closed her eyes, spun the bottle, and hoped.

She looked again as the bottle slowed down, passing Archie and then looking like it was going to point right back at her. How fitting that would be: Betty Cooper, forever alone, so much so that even a stupid party game couldn't get her together with someone.

But the bottle didn't stop there. It creaked past her, just slightly, pointing definitively at Veronica Lodge.

“Well, there's your turn,” Cheryl said, reaching for the bottle. “Sorry, no second spins.”

“Who said that didn't count?” Veronica asked, placing a hand on Betty’s shoulder as she stood up. Betty looked at her, surprised, but Veronica’s eyes were focused on Cheryl.

“What,” Cheryl said, crossing her arms. “Was that showy little kiss at try-outs not enough for you?”

“It's not showing off if there's no one to see, is it?” Veronica asked. “Besides, I’m just playing by the rules. I thought you wanted me to be more of a team player.” Before Cheryl could respond, Veronica took Betty by the hand and led her to the closet. “We’ll see you in seven minutes.” She shoved Betty into the closet, closing the door behind them.

“What on  _ earth  _ are you doing?” Betty asked. She wiped her hands on her skirt, wishing Veronica hadn't felt how sweaty her palms were.

Veronica smiled. “When it comes to people like Cheryl,” she said, “I think it's best to keep them guessing.”

“Guessing what?” Betty asked.

Veronica sat down next to Betty. “At me,” she said. “At us. The less she can figure out about us, the more power we have against her. And if a kiss that hot isn't going to do it, maybe some mystery will.”

Betty looked away, rubbing her neck. She hadn't known what to think about the kiss when it happened, and now she was even less sure. She knew it had been to get a rise out of Cheryl, and granted she had not kissed many people in her lifetime, but it hadn't felt fake. Maybe it was just Veronica. She wasn't like Betty. She knew what she was doing. But if that had been a fake kiss from Veronica, Betty couldn't imagine what a real one would be like.

“I know I'm not Archie,” Veronica said. Betty turned back, realizing that Veronica had misread her reaction at the same moment that she remembered that Archie was still out there. “I'm sorry the bottle didn't land on him. But did you see his face when he saw us come in here? He looked incredibly jealous.”

"Jealous of me, maybe," Betty said, quiet enough that she could pretend that she hadn't meant for Veronica to hear it.  "Not jealous of you."

"Look at me," Veronica said.  Betty was afraid to meet her eyes, but she did it anyway.  Veronica's eyes were a puzzle that Betty hadn't quite figured out yet, but they did something to her that she didn't want to think too hard about.  "You can't keep talking about yourself like that," Veronica said, as if it was nothing.

"It's not about me," Betty said.  "It's about you.  I mean, look at yourself.  What kind of guy is going to choose me over you?"

Veronica looked down.  "I don't want to take Archie away from you, Betty," she said.  "And if he's really interested in me over someone he has such a history with... maybe he's not worth your time."

"I can't exactly help it," Betty said.

"I'm just saying," Veronica said.  "You're better than that.  You deserve better than that."

She placed a hand on Betty's thigh.  Maybe it was just because that was the part of Betty's body that was closest to her.  Or maybe it was because it meant something.  It didn't really matter, because whatever the reason was, Betty's heart was racing.

She liked Archie, she told herself.  Archie was the person she was supposed to end up with.  Archie had known her for as long as she could remember.  Archie was the kind of guy that she could build a future with; the kind of guy her parents would actually be proud of.

But then there was Veronica, complicating everything.  Veronica, with her pearls and her tight dresses.  And those eyes.

And that kiss.

"I'm sorry," Veronica said.  "It was stupid to come in here.  I should have just convinced Cheryl to let you spin again."

"What was that?" Betty asked, her mind nowhere near what Veronica was saying.

"What was what?"

"The kiss," Betty said.  She was frantic now, her mind jumping and her stomach churning.  "At tryouts.  It just felt so... was it really just for show?  Just to piss off Cheryl?  Because if it was I understand but I... maybe I just wasn't expecting it, maybe you caught me off guard or something, but it... it didn't feel like that."

Veronica looked at her, her expression stony.  "It might have been for show," she said.  "But I also might have been curious."

"Curious?" Betty asked.

"And," Veronica said, shifting her position so that her knees were touching Betty's, "this little act might have been about more than pissing off Cheryl."  She reached out a hand to brush away a strand of hair that had escaped from Betty's ponytail.  "But if I'm being honest, you have to be honest too.  Did you really feel something with that kiss?"

"I thought we were playing seven minutes in heaven," Betty said.  "Not truth or dare."

Veronica smiled, a sly smile that as far as Betty knew was only reserved for her.  "So you're playing after all," Veronica said.  "Then let's play."

She reached towards Betty's face again, her finger grazing Betty's cheek before pulling out her ponytail.  Betty shook her head, letting her hair fall around her and hoping to God that it looked alright.  She wasn't thinking.  Veronica's face was so close to hers.  Her hand had worked its way to Veronica's waist. And then Veronica's lips were on her lips.  This was happening.  It was actually happening.  Not for an audience, this time; just for Betty.  In this moment, and in this closet, they were the only two people in the world.

And then the door opened.

"Knock, knock," Cheryl said.  Betty immediately pulled away, praying that her pink lipstick wasn't smeared all over Veronica's face.  "I hope you enjoyed your time in here.  Now get the Hell out so that someone can actually use it."

Betty bit her lip, hoping her cheeks didn't look as flushed as they felt.  Veronica took her hand, carefully pulling her up to standing.  "Don't worry," she whispered in Betty's ear.  "It's our little secret.  As long as you want it to be."

She breezed past Betty, back to the party and back to the rest of the world.  Betty stood in the closet for a moment, trying to commit every detail to memory so that she couldn't convince herself later that it hadn't happened.

She took a deep breath, and followed Veronica.


End file.
